things that spies do and did
Dec. 5th, 2018 08:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessBerlin Station 1.5 Unter Druck*
It makes sense that Hector would be afraid he’d jump, rather than fall off a bridge. Of course, he as Thomas Shaw is a step further ahead than Daniel and Stephen know. My initial reaction to Stephen putting Daniel on the job of getting the appalling Chinese defector out over following up DeVoss was calling it self-preservation, which it was, but also, the job of looking up DeVoss’s contacts isn’t as time-limited.
I appreciated Valerie’s caution in contrast to Robert’s wounded ego – I mean, Stephen did treat him badly – not that she doesn’t have wounded ego over the agent who lied to her, but she’s not putting on a one-man show about it.
And my reaction to Hector’s declaration to Claire, who has a believable relationship with Valerie is: oh dear.
Robert’s ego got somewhat massaged by the Israelis and we learned a little more about him and the strains he was under, but although he bragged hard about his expertise, I just saw how Hector had deceived him and felt for Valerie in the room as he and Stephen rowed. Plus, it was her op, and Claire’s report about the girls’ personalities was valid intel that fed into her decision. Meanwhile, Robert’s argument was objectively more dispassionate and long term than Stephen thinking about his daughter, but Robert didn’t sell it dispassionately.
Daniel and his lady German opposite number tried to out-tough each other, and their having sex together was predictable, but I doubted they’d trust each other. Still, Daniel’s take on how they’d betrayed Lin and the stuff about his mother were intriguing.
Meanwhile, watch out, Patricia, with Hector cultivating her by way of honesty.
A bad case of ‘teenagers, eh’, as they pulled in the would-be jihadi brides for not very fruitful questioning.
Robert misread the transaction involved in prostitution, but then the Israeli spy misread his motivations. When you think about it, all the sex and seduction compared with the seduction of cultivating agents was laid on a bit thick. But the ending, with the realisation of DuVoss’s alter ego, which I hadn’t suspected for a second, was a good twist.
I'm only one behind on this now, but am unsure whether I'll catch up in time to resume watching it live.
*the internet says this is German for ‘under pressure’
Mrs Wilson 2/3
A description of the show in a TV guide had made me think we were going to see events from Dorothy’s POV, but we mainly stayed with Alison as she continued to try to find out more and it took its toll on her. Of course, everyone who knew her normally thought she was taking her loss of her good husband badly. As Alec’s secrets tumbled out, she didn’t have anyone to confide in, and took out her increasing anger on domestic jobs, and was rather sympathetic.
Although her taking Dorothy’s advice to protect her sons (like all they had left after the deceit was a competition to be the best mother?) when they’re not six year olds transplanted from home, but young men, old enough to worry at her odd behaviour, ask awkward questions and carry out their own investigations, and taking the priest’s advice to stay quiet when she seemed to be agnostic and had refused Fiona Shaw’s character’s advice, seemed…odd. I tended towards thinking Alison needed a confidant to help her steer her way through the emotional maelstrom and the response to Alec’s lies wasn’t lying to his sons, but it did create drama.
There was a bit of rationalisation about creating narratives from Dorothy and their Indian handler. You would have thought that sending a married man to India (and wasn’t his Arabic his USP? What use would that be in the bit of India that would become Pakistan?) wasn’t a great idea.
Anyway, Alison’s flashbacks to a naiver time filled out the narrative, while her present was…not good. The more we learned about Alec and his noble, noble habit of ‘marrying’ women he’d knocked up and refusal to give (some of) his son(s) up, the more the jaw dropped.
This show loves teal – and it’s a good-looking colour. Having darker hair made Keeley Hawes look quite different, though I thought that the acting choice re Dorothy’s smoking didn’t quite work – and Dorothy’s belief that Gladys was Alec’s sister was sad. But then, lying to Michael about Alec’s death is a bit breathtaking – wasn’t Alec still writing under the same name? Couldn’t he have bumped into him? I know the country was bigger, with fewer people and less interconnected, but what if he had?
The fact that all this (more or less) did happen is part of what makes it gripping, although I suspect making it a three-parter is about right, as things could get repetitive.
The finale of The Little Drummer Girl hung over my viewing of both these episodes.
It makes sense that Hector would be afraid he’d jump, rather than fall off a bridge. Of course, he as Thomas Shaw is a step further ahead than Daniel and Stephen know. My initial reaction to Stephen putting Daniel on the job of getting the appalling Chinese defector out over following up DeVoss was calling it self-preservation, which it was, but also, the job of looking up DeVoss’s contacts isn’t as time-limited.
I appreciated Valerie’s caution in contrast to Robert’s wounded ego – I mean, Stephen did treat him badly – not that she doesn’t have wounded ego over the agent who lied to her, but she’s not putting on a one-man show about it.
And my reaction to Hector’s declaration to Claire, who has a believable relationship with Valerie is: oh dear.
Robert’s ego got somewhat massaged by the Israelis and we learned a little more about him and the strains he was under, but although he bragged hard about his expertise, I just saw how Hector had deceived him and felt for Valerie in the room as he and Stephen rowed. Plus, it was her op, and Claire’s report about the girls’ personalities was valid intel that fed into her decision. Meanwhile, Robert’s argument was objectively more dispassionate and long term than Stephen thinking about his daughter, but Robert didn’t sell it dispassionately.
Daniel and his lady German opposite number tried to out-tough each other, and their having sex together was predictable, but I doubted they’d trust each other. Still, Daniel’s take on how they’d betrayed Lin and the stuff about his mother were intriguing.
Meanwhile, watch out, Patricia, with Hector cultivating her by way of honesty.
A bad case of ‘teenagers, eh’, as they pulled in the would-be jihadi brides for not very fruitful questioning.
Robert misread the transaction involved in prostitution, but then the Israeli spy misread his motivations. When you think about it, all the sex and seduction compared with the seduction of cultivating agents was laid on a bit thick. But the ending, with the realisation of DuVoss’s alter ego, which I hadn’t suspected for a second, was a good twist.
I'm only one behind on this now, but am unsure whether I'll catch up in time to resume watching it live.
*the internet says this is German for ‘under pressure’
Mrs Wilson 2/3
A description of the show in a TV guide had made me think we were going to see events from Dorothy’s POV, but we mainly stayed with Alison as she continued to try to find out more and it took its toll on her. Of course, everyone who knew her normally thought she was taking her loss of her good husband badly. As Alec’s secrets tumbled out, she didn’t have anyone to confide in, and took out her increasing anger on domestic jobs, and was rather sympathetic.
Although her taking Dorothy’s advice to protect her sons (like all they had left after the deceit was a competition to be the best mother?) when they’re not six year olds transplanted from home, but young men, old enough to worry at her odd behaviour, ask awkward questions and carry out their own investigations, and taking the priest’s advice to stay quiet when she seemed to be agnostic and had refused Fiona Shaw’s character’s advice, seemed…odd. I tended towards thinking Alison needed a confidant to help her steer her way through the emotional maelstrom and the response to Alec’s lies wasn’t lying to his sons, but it did create drama.
There was a bit of rationalisation about creating narratives from Dorothy and their Indian handler. You would have thought that sending a married man to India (and wasn’t his Arabic his USP? What use would that be in the bit of India that would become Pakistan?) wasn’t a great idea.
Anyway, Alison’s flashbacks to a naiver time filled out the narrative, while her present was…not good. The more we learned about Alec and his noble, noble habit of ‘marrying’ women he’d knocked up and refusal to give (some of) his son(s) up, the more the jaw dropped.
This show loves teal – and it’s a good-looking colour. Having darker hair made Keeley Hawes look quite different, though I thought that the acting choice re Dorothy’s smoking didn’t quite work – and Dorothy’s belief that Gladys was Alec’s sister was sad. But then, lying to Michael about Alec’s death is a bit breathtaking – wasn’t Alec still writing under the same name? Couldn’t he have bumped into him? I know the country was bigger, with fewer people and less interconnected, but what if he had?
The fact that all this (more or less) did happen is part of what makes it gripping, although I suspect making it a three-parter is about right, as things could get repetitive.
The finale of The Little Drummer Girl hung over my viewing of both these episodes.
